Page 40 of First Impressions of You

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I argue. “I fall, I sue Movieland, and I become a billionaire.”

I don’t know where that answer came from. Winter and I are not joke-sharing friends. We’re no sort of friends. But when a genuine smile curves his lips upward, and I get a flash of those dimples again, something tugs at my chest and a weird feeling happens in my stomach.

“What was the question, Winter?”

He gives me a confused glare. He clearly forgot why he approached me. “Right.” His right hand goes to the back of his neck. “You had a fitting yesterday, right?”

I nod but don’t say anything. Is he going to talk about the dress? Is he going to ask if they managed to make it close?

“Did you meet with Graham afterwards?”

“What?” I blurt out, taken by surprise. This was not where I was expecting this conversation to go.

“How do you know him?” he asks, as if this is a totally normal conversation. A topic we discuss every day.

“He works here,” I offer as a way to try to understand where he’s getting at, but I can already feel rage starting to boil in my blood. Is he really going to bring this up? Right now?

“He’s working here?” He’s clearly surprised by this piece of information, and I wonder if he’s afraid his little secret will come out with Graham being around.

“Why?” I arch an eyebrow in challenge.

“What— Are you—” He shakes his head, thinking better about what to say next. “How did you meet him?”

It’s practically the same thing he already asked me, but I know what means.

“At a bar,” I answer honestly. Then, a memory flashes in my mind. Winter’s body pressed to mine as he kept me from falling. I quickly shove it away. “You were there. At Olivia’s birthday.”

“That’s what I thought,” he explains. “He must have seen us there together.”

“Why do you ask?” I don’t know what I expect him to say. I don’t know if I’m expecting him to prove me right by lying or to come clean. Either way, he’d come out looking bad.

But he’s saved by Emily calling us back inside the rehearsal room.

The Reel Pub is always crowded no matter what day of the week. Even today, a Tuesday, usually the least crowded day at Movieland, the bar is full. Team members are the majority, but there’s a good number of tourists too. And today, the theater cast has joined the crowd.

To celebrate our first day of rehearsal, Cam decided to get everyone together for a drink or two, and because it’s Cam, they all came.

“Has Julia arrived?” he asked me about half an hour after we get there. “I asked her to come, but I don’t know…”

It’s adorable, really. How obviously enamored he is.

“She’ll be here, I’m sure,” I comfort him. Knowing my sister, she’s home freaking out about leaving her studies, or getting up the courage to make her way here.

Ever since I started at the theater department, with all the paperwork, tests, and fittings, I feel like I haven’t seen much of her. Or Olivia, for that matter. Julia’s classes are getting harder and harder every month, and she just buries her face in her textbooks from the moment she gets home to the moment she goes to bed. Olivia’s classes are about to start, but she’s already getting fewer shifts at Movieland, and because we never go in at the same time anymore, we’re not coming together either.

When Julia arrives at The Reel Pub, with Olivia and Cece following behind, I feel like I haven’t seen them in weeks.

“Oh my God! What are you doing here?” I hug my best friend, surprised at her presence.

She hugs me right back. “I stopped by your house, and they were on their way here.”

“I thought you’d like the company. How was the first read-through?” Julia asks, hugging me when Cece lets me go. Her enthusiasm is so genuine I feel my heart squeeze in my chest. No matter how hard she’s studying, how focused she is in her own career, she always makes time to worry about everyone else too.

“Kinda hard to believe it’s actually happening,” I tell her but leave it at that. I don’t need to tell her how hard it was to play opposite Winter. I haven’t even told her what I learned about him, and this isn’t a conversation to have at a bar.

Soon, Julia leaves to find Cam, and Olivia turns to ask me if I’ve seen Graham.

“I haven’t, but I don’t know if he knew about this,” I say. “I’ll text him. Graham is always game to come here.”

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